Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions==
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher.
What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room. Draw a map of the classroom and sketch a path showing (approximately) this movement.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observation:
Today was my first day at Coventry High school, and with the students being in day 2 of a 2 day lab there was little instruction given by the teacher. For about 5 minutes or so however, the teacher recapped what the students had learned yesterday and went over exactly what they would be doing today. During the introduction, the teacher asked different students questions about what they had done the previous day, and how it applied to the lessons they had been learning. I watched the students in the room, and it seemed like most of them were engaged in the introduction. A few students though, mostly in the back of the classroom, seemed somewhat disengaged in the discussion. Two students had their heads down, and two students were talking to each other during the introduction. The teacher didn't really acknowledge any of these students, and simply continued the introduction. During the lab, every group seemed to be on task throughout the experiment. The two students whom weren't paying attention during the introduction actually ended up putting three times as much acid than was needed, and ended up killing their planaria which they were supposed to be doing a variety of experiments on. Another group i noticed sat in the back corner of the room, and weren't really focusing on the experiment and were just sitting talking to each other. I observed, as the teacher was going around the classroom checking in with groups making sure they were doing the experiment correctly. It took him nearly 10 minutes to realize the students were off task, but from across the room saw the boys goofing around and immediately went over to check their progress.
Reflection:
After my first day in Coventry, I can clearly see the students really respect my cooperating teacher. Mr. Lukowicz really does a great job of connecting with the kids, and he uses this to his advantage in his teaching. Throughout the introduction, he engaged the students into the lesson by asking them thought provoking questions. This both helped the students connect the material to what they were learning in lessons themselves, and helped keep the students focused throughout the introduction. I'm not exactly sure why the teacher didn't try to engage the students who weren't paying attention in the introduction, and clearly it had its effects as these students were the only students who failed to conduct the experiment correctly. While conducting the experiment, Mr. Lukowicz did a good job of taking the opportunity to familiarize myself with the classroom and periodically going around to make sure all the groups were conducting the experiment correctly. He also seems very aware of what's going on in the classroom. Even though he was working with a group on the other side of the room, he noticed students were off task on the other side of the room. I'm looking forward to see Mr. Lukowicz instruct his lessons, and see if he engages his students in similar ways throughout lessons as he did in the introduction.
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher.
What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room. Draw a map of the classroom and sketch a path showing (approximately) this movement.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observation:
Today was my first day at Coventry High school, and with the students being in day 2 of a 2 day lab there was little instruction given by the teacher. For about 5 minutes or so however, the teacher recapped what the students had learned yesterday and went over exactly what they would be doing today. During the introduction, the teacher asked different students questions about what they had done the previous day, and how it applied to the lessons they had been learning. I watched the students in the room, and it seemed like most of them were engaged in the introduction. A few students though, mostly in the back of the classroom, seemed somewhat disengaged in the discussion. Two students had their heads down, and two students were talking to each other during the introduction. The teacher didn't really acknowledge any of these students, and simply continued the introduction. During the lab, every group seemed to be on task throughout the experiment. The two students whom weren't paying attention during the introduction actually ended up putting three times as much acid than was needed, and ended up killing their planaria which they were supposed to be doing a variety of experiments on. Another group i noticed sat in the back corner of the room, and weren't really focusing on the experiment and were just sitting talking to each other. I observed, as the teacher was going around the classroom checking in with groups making sure they were doing the experiment correctly. It took him nearly 10 minutes to realize the students were off task, but from across the room saw the boys goofing around and immediately went over to check their progress.
Reflection:
After my first day in Coventry, I can clearly see the students really respect my cooperating teacher. Mr. Lukowicz really does a great job of connecting with the kids, and he uses this to his advantage in his teaching. Throughout the introduction, he engaged the students into the lesson by asking them thought provoking questions. This both helped the students connect the material to what they were learning in lessons themselves, and helped keep the students focused throughout the introduction. I'm not exactly sure why the teacher didn't try to engage the students who weren't paying attention in the introduction, and clearly it had its effects as these students were the only students who failed to conduct the experiment correctly. While conducting the experiment, Mr. Lukowicz did a good job of taking the opportunity to familiarize myself with the classroom and periodically going around to make sure all the groups were conducting the experiment correctly. He also seems very aware of what's going on in the classroom. Even though he was working with a group on the other side of the room, he noticed students were off task on the other side of the room. I'm looking forward to see Mr. Lukowicz instruct his lessons, and see if he engages his students in similar ways throughout lessons as he did in the introduction.